What Will Come Next
by IWOMAN
Summary: Sequel to 'Experiment'. Darien tries to deal with the aftermath of his capture by Arnaud.


"A man once inquired, 'Will men ever find peace

"A man once inquired, 'Will men ever find peace? Or does that only come at your own end?' Well, my question is small. Will I find peace in this life or will it come at my end? There really is only one way to find out, right?" 

Part One: 

*Two months after Experiment* 

Darien woke up with a cold sweat. He sat up to find his blankets and pillows lying on the ground. 'Not again.' Darien tried to remember his dream but had no luck. He stepped off the bed and grabbed his bedding. 'You belong on the bed friends, not on the floor. What? Is he paying you more money?'

Darien tossed his things on the bed, then carefully made it. He walked to his bathroom and looked in the mirror. 'Well, what to do with you?' He thought. He pulled himself together and got dressed. As he walked by the kitchen he stopped. He now hated leaving his apartment. Who knew what was out there waiting to grab him? But he had to go.

He walked to the small living room and felt a chill. He remembered Hobbes' body lying there and then the sudden pain in his neck. 'No! Not right now.' He thought with anger. He opened his front door and walked out. "Here I come world, be gentle." 

________ 

Hobbes woke up with a slight headache. He jumped out of bed and walked to his bathroom. He quickly got dressed and then walked into the kitchen to grab a small bite to eat before heading to work. Maybe he would have enough time to grab an iced mocha. He grabbed an apple and walked out the door. 

_________ 

Claire walked into her lab. She had much to do but little time to do it in. She heard something in the other corner of her lab. "Hello, anyone there?" she said with her Australian accent. 

"Yes Claire, I am here." Someone replied. 

Claire turned the corner to find Darien sitting on the chair. "Hi there Darien, something I can do for you? Don't tell me you need a shot. It's only Wednesday." 

"No Claire, I am fine with the little snake here." He put his hand up to show the snake with only two segment red. 

"Well, that's really good Darien. I am surprised you only have two there. You aren't using the quicksilver?" 

"No, not since my last mission. Oh, I mean..." He suddenly stopped his sentence. 

"It's been two months Darien. You still can't remember anything?" 

"No, and I don't want to either Claire. It's bad enough knowing that he did something to me. I don't want to know what." Darien stood up from the chair. "I have to go, Hobbes is probably waiting for me upstairs." 

"I doubt that Darien. This last week since you were released from the hospital you have been coming in earlier than Hobbes, even me. What, can't you sleep?" 

With that Darien walked out of the room leaving Claire there pondering his strange mood. 

__________ 

Hobbes walked down the hallway to the Officials office with a cup of java in his left hand. He walked up to the door and walked in. "Hello there Official, what can I do for you today?" 

"Nothing today Hobbes." The Official said. "You and Fawkes can have the day off. Get some rest, have a party, I don't care. Just leave." 

With that Hobbes turned to leave, then decided to ask a question. "Where is Fawkes?" 

"Last I saw him he was leaving my office with a smile on his face. Said there was something important he had to do today. I don't know what though. Thought I should leave that one alone." 

"What, you? Leave it alone? Never heard of such a thing." Bobby said with a smirk. 

"Well, today was HIS lucky day. I won't say the same thing about you though." 

Bobby got the hint and left the room. He should see the Keep before leaving for the day. Maybe she would know where his partner went. 

________ 

The Official looked over at Eberts. "Eberts, I want you to get someone to follow Fawkes today. And get him on it now!" 

"Yes sir." Eberts said with a sigh. "Right away." 

________ 

Darien found himself wandering down the street. Where was he going? He didn't quite know yet. He was following his feet and he had no idea where they would lead him. Just then he stopped."No way." Darien said. He found himself looking at the warehouse he was locked into for two weeks.

He couldn't help it, he had to go in. As he walked in far away memories fled into his mind. Spiders, tranq guns, guns. He walked into that small padded room and found old blood lying on the ground."My blood." he whispered while pulling up his shirt to find a small scar on his stomach. Could it really be two months later? He pulled his shirt back down then walked out of the room. He hadn't been here since the shooting. What could he find? What could he remember? Sure, he told Claire that he didn't want to know. But it was the total opposite. He wanted to know everything. What had that man done to him? What could he still do? 

Darien looked down at his watch. "12:00 already? Have to go eat. But I will be back." With that he headed for the door.Just then he heard a noise. 

"Darien turned around to find a man with his gun out standing before him."Aw crap!" 

________ 

Hobbes walked out of the Keeper's lab. After hearing everything the Keep just said he wasn't sure what to do. Could Darien really be that depressed? He hadn't been touching quicksilver for almost two months. Was he scared of something? And if so, would he act on that fright? He had to find him, and he knew just where to look first. 

_________ 

Darien stared as the man put his gun away. "Umm, I am sorry. I thought I had seen someone else come in here." 

"Someone else? And who are you?" Darien said with anger. 

"I am Jonathan Kennedy. I am with the Agency. I am watching this warehouse. I had no idea it was you Mr. Fawkes who came in. Once again, I am sorry." 

"Well John, can I call you that? Why are you watching this building? And how do you know who I am?" 

"Yes, you can call me John and the Agency gave me a picture of you and told me that if you were to come here to call the Official." 

"Oh, well I better leave then. It was nice meeting you John. And tell the Official I said, 'Thank you for this wonderful day off'." With that Darien walked away. 

_________ 

"Hello, this is Agent Kennedy. Tell the Official he was here and now he is gone. He is going to lunch. Will keep in contact." John hung up the phone and walked out of the building. 

As John walked towards his car a man snuck out from behind one of the pillars, "That was close," he said, then turned around and started walking in the other direction, away from John. 

_________ 

Hobbes walked into the cafe and looked around. Sitting in a booth at the end of the cafe was Darien. He was playing around with a sandwich. Hobbes decided to walk over. "Hey there partner!" He said. "What's up?" 

Darien looked up from his sandwich and stared at Hobbes. "Hey Bobby. Not much is going on. Just thought it was time for some food in this broken down stomach of mine. How did you find me?" 

"Easy. You always eat here on Wednesday. And I thought I could join you if you liked. I should fill my stomach too."With that Hobbes sat down. 

"Actually, I was hoping to eat alone. But...You can stay." 

"Thanks." Hobbes said. 

A waitress came by and took Hobbes' order, then ran off to fill it. Hobbes couldn't help but stare at his partner. He looked extremely sad. Bobby had seen him sad before but this, this was different. "Fawkes, you okay man?" 

Darien stopped playing with his food long enough to say, "Yes, I am quite fine. But I do have to leave now. It was nice eating with you." Darien tried to stand up but Hobbes grabbed his arm. "Let go man!" Darien said while wiggling his arm away from Bobby. 

"Darien...." 

Darien turned around. "Darien? You just called me Darien?" 

"I am sorry for grabbing you. I am only trying to help." 

"Help, you? I can't be around you. Not any more." 

"What do you mean Fawkes?" 

"Nothing!" Darien said with anger. "Just leave me alone." By this time the whole cafe was staring at them. Darien looked around. "What! Too much yelling? I will keep it down, ok?" With that Darien left the cafe. He was going to the only place he could without a problem. 

________ 

Hobbes found himself left in the cafe with eyes transfixed on him. He sat up and said, "I am sorry." He put money down for Darien's untouched sandwich and his meal also. He stepped out the door to see if he could find Darien. No luck.He walked towards the van and opened it.He picked up his cell and dialed the Keeper's number. 

"Keepy?" 

"Yes Bobby. What can I do for you?" 

"I just talked to Darien. Something is majorly wrong.He said something about not being able to be around me any longer. What do you think is up?" 

"Bobby, it could be anything. He could be going through depression. You know, he was kidnapped, played with, and shot two months ago. He might not yet be over it. And I am sure it is harder now that he has no idea what happened while he was in stage 5. We just have to keep a watch on him. You know what almost happened the last time he was depressed?" 

"Yes, I know. I won't let it go that far." Hobbes hung up the phone. There are three places that Darien would go right now.

First, there was the warehouse, second, there was the beach, and the third, well, he would check there first. 

_________ 

Eberts walked up to the Official. "Sir, Mr. Fawkes just left the cafeteria. Agent Kennedy said that Mr. Hobbes and Mr. Fawkes were in a heated argument when Mr. Fawkes left. He is still pursuing Mr. Fawkes and will contact us again when Fawkes stops once again. Oh, he also said that he is sure that someone else was in the warehouse with him." 

The Official looked at Eberts. "Thank you Eberts. That will be all." 

"Sir?" Eberts said. 

"Leave Eberts!" 

Eberts quickly left, shutting the door behind him. 

________ 

Darien walked on the freshly-cut grass. It seemed as though he had been walking for days. He finally made it to his destination. "Hello there, Kevin." Darien said looking down at his brother's grave. "You have no idea how much I miss you Kevin. I haven't been here for at least two months. I had some trouble with our old friend Arnaud."

Darien felt as though he was going to collapse right there. He had this sharp pain in his stomach. He didn't know if it was because he was hungry or because he was so tired. "Kevin, I have been thinking about ending it all. I want to come home. I want to be with everyone. With mom, dad, with you. But I can't do it yet. I can't destroy what you died to protect. I won't do that to you. I was thinking that I would do something serious, something with no possibility of recovery. So that they have to take out this gland. This prison." 

"Hello there, partner." Someone said behind him. 

"Aw crap!" Darien said turning around to find Bobby."Hey there Bobby. You know it isn't a good thing to sneak up on people.How long have you been there by the way?" 

"Long enough to know your intentions." Bobby said with concern on his face. 

"Bobby..." 

"No Darien! How can you think like that? How can you even consider to just end it all?" 

"That's easy, Bobby!" Darien said with anger. "I can't stay in this world any longer. Everyone around me gets hurt, dies. I couldn't take it if anything happened to you because of me." By this time Darien had tears in his eyes."Arnaud could have killed you. Who cares about me! I am worried about you, about Claire. How could I live with myself then?" 

"Darien, you aren't responsible for any of us. If something happened to us, it wouldn't be because of you. What about all the times I have put you into danger?" 

"You don't understand Bobby! You don't know what it is like to have something in your head that shouldn't be there.And it shouldn't! And the only way to get rid of it is to get rid of yourself." 

"I do know what it is like Darien!" Bobby said with anger. "Do you think it is my choice to act so crazy? Do you think I am pleased to have to take some pills each day to control my head?" 

"No, I guess not Bobby. I am sorry. I just can't stand this." 

"Stand what Darien?" Bobby said with frustration in his voice. 

"I don't know what that man did to me! I can't remember. I want to remember!" Darien said now with tears running down his cheeks. 

"It will all be okay Darien." Bobby said walking over to Darien. "Just let me help." Bobby said, touching Darien's shoulder. 

"I miss my brother, Bobby. I miss talking to him. I miss making fun of his experiments. Now I am the experiment. And all I can do is make fun of myself. He was one of the last people in my family. Now I feel like it's just me. And now I want to be with them. To be with him." 

"It's not your time Darien. Not yet." 

"Bobby, I killed my brother. I killed him!" 

"No Darien, Arnaud would have killed him whether you were there or not." 

Darien fell to the ground on his knees while hitting the ground with his fists. "Why, Kevin? Why did you have to leave me? You knew I couldn't do this on my own!" 

Bobby looked down at Darien. "Darien, your brother will always be with you. In here." Bobby pointed to Darien's heart. When Bobby helped him up he said, "It will all be ok." Then he embraced Darien. 

Darien couldn't help it. He let all of his pain out.He let it out to his best friend. 

As Darien pulled himself together he stepped away from Bobby. "Um, that didn't happen." Darien said while wiping a tear from his face. 

"What are you talking about Fawkes?" Bobby said with a smile. 

"Now, lets get out of here. Let's see what we can do about your memory." 

"Right. And Bobby?" 

"Yes Fawkes?" 

"Thank you... partner." Darien said as they walked to Hobbes' van. 

"A man once said, 'When you want to end it all, look around you. There is always something left for you to live for.' In my case, I wanted to die for my brother. Now I realize that I want to live for him."


End file.
